Criminals have swapped out mobile devices with identical models
In a concerning trend, scammers are posing as utility service operators, demanding urgent payments for gas or electricity bills, often requesting SMS codes, card details, and other personal information. However, elderly Russians can safeguard themselves from such scams through a combination of legal and technical measures being developed and implemented in Russia.
The Russian State Duma is working on a law that requires telecom operators to enable suspicious call and message filtering services by default and free of charge for all subscribers, including vulnerable groups such as the elderly. These filters block calls from numbers identified by special algorithms as fraudulent, based on patterns and blacklists maintained with the involvement of Roskomnadzor, the communications regulator [1].
Since 2022, an Antifraud system developed with Roskomnadzor's participation has blocked over 1 billion calls from fraudulent replacement numbers [1]. Operators already offer such services, though they may currently require user activation. The law aims for automatic activation to protect those less tech-savvy, like seniors.
Raising awareness among the elderly is also crucial. Scammers increasingly target landlines with impersonations of trusted entities like Rostelecom, utilities, police, or Rosfinmonitoring. Elderly individuals should be educated to verify callers independently and avoid sharing personal or financial information over the phone [2].
When in doubt, seniors should hang up and call official contact numbers of the organisation said to be calling (Rostelecom, police, utilities, Rosfinmonitoring) rather than responding to unsolicited calls or messages.
The Ministry of Digital Development has expressed readiness to promptly develop and implement additional protective measures for landline telephone lines. This comes in response to a growing interest of scammers in landline connections as mobile call protection is strengthened.
Recently, a new scheme emerged where criminals called city landline numbers offering investment in a project with promises of high returns. Millions of cases of such calls have been reported, with the number of calls increasing by approximately 20% each week [3]. Afterwards, criminals call back, impersonating police or Rosfinmonitoring, and demand money transfer "for verification". One common scheme involves calls pretending to be from "Rostelecom", informing about the end of a contract and asking for an SMS code [3].
In summary, legal initiatives to mandate free, automatic call filtering by Russian telecom operators combined with user education and verification practices are the main recommended strategies for elderly Russians to protect themselves from landline phone scams involving impersonation of official bodies [1][2].
The Russian State Duma is enacting a law mandating telecom operators to enable suspicious call filtering services by default, aiming to safeguard elderly citizens from scams in cybersecurity issues such as utility fraud. As technology advances and scammers adapt their tactics, it's essential for the elderly to remain informed and independently verify callers, a crucial component of crime-and-justice education in the general-news context.
